Ezreal is among the most popular champions in League of Legends. His “all-skillshots” playstyle is unique and powerful enough to carry games even in Challenger.
This is not only true for his regular AD build, but for the full AP Ezreal build too.
In this guide, I’ll talk about how you should build and play AP Ezreal in season 13 of League of Legends.
I’ll explain his abilities, the runes and items you’ll need, and whether AP Ezreal is better than AD Ezreal.
So, let’s begin!
Is Ezreal AP or AD?
Ezreal is a hybrid champion in LoL. He deals both physical and magic damage and all of his abilities scale with AD and AP.
In the bot lane, people build Ezreal full AD. But in the mid lane, Ezreal is often full AP. The AP build gives more burst while the AD more consistent damage overall.
Here’s a simple table to help you better understand Ezreal’s physical and magic damage, as well as his AP and AD ratios:
| Ezreal’s Abilities | Base Damage | AD Ratio | AP Ratio |
| Passive – Rising Spell Force | 10% bonus attack speed per stack, up to 50% at 5 stacks. | / | / |
| Q – Mystic Shot | 20 / 45 / 70 / 95 / 120 – physical damage | 130% bonus AD | 15% bonus AP |
| W – Essence Flux | 80 / 135 / 190 / 245 / 300 – magic damage | 60% bonus AD | 70 / 75 / 80 / 85 / 90% bonus AP |
| E – Arcane Shift | 80 / 130 / 180 / 230 / 280 – magic damage | 50% bonus AD | 75% bonus AP |
| R – Trueshot Barrage | 350 / 500 / 650 – magic damage | 100% bonus AD | 90% bonus AP |
As you can see, the AP and AD ratios are nearly equal when you round the numbers.
True, most of Ezreal’s abilities deal magic damage, but the AD ratios are high enough to make them useful with any AD build.
Since numbers constantly change in League of Legends, you can check Ezreal’s fandom page. There you can find the exact damage numbers even if things change in the future.
Read Also: Twisted Fate AP or AD – Guide
Is AP Ezreal Still Viable?
Yes, AP Ezreal is a viable and powerful build in League of Legends.
AP Ezreal focuses on dealing massive amounts of instant burst damage. All of Ezreal’s abilities scale with ability power and all of them deal magic damage (except Q).
AP Ezreal can easily one-shot enemies with his W+E and W+R combo.
Throughout League’s history, Ezreal has been changed and tweaked many times. In his current form, both the AD and AP builds are viable.
They’re both good enough to carry games. And the only difference is in how the damage is dealt.
Needless to say, the most important ability in the AP Ezreal build is the W – Essence Flux. You max this spell first since it gives you the most amount of damage throughout the game.
You should also detonate it with your E – Arcane Shift most of the time. But using R – Trueshot Barrage in combination with the W is also great.
Read Also: Full AP Jhin Build Guide
Is AD Ezreal Better Than AP Ezreal?
So, we can’t talk about Ezreal’s damage without taking all builds into consideration. Because even in Master, I’ve seen Ezreal players switch to AP if their team is full AD, for example.
And this has been the case ever since Ezreal has been to the game. He’s one of the best champions to main in League simply because you’ll never get bored of him.
You can build AP in one game and then AD in the next. But is AD Ezreal better than AP Ezreal? Or it’s the other way around?
AD Ezreal is overall better than AP Ezreal. The AD build offers more consistency, a lot of cooldown reduction, armor penetration, and self-healing.
AD Ezreal is also a lot easier to play than AP Ezreal and you deal damage with both abilities and basic attacks.
Don’t get me wrong – AP Ezreal is ridiculously powerful and can one-shot enemies from range.
But the reason why most players go for the AD Ezreal build is that it’s more flexible and it fits better to the current game.
AD Ezreal uses all of his abilities (but mostly Q) plus auto-attacks to deal damage. And AP Ezreal focuses on detonating the W with E or R.
This is why the AP build is a bit more limited and difficult to execute successfully.
If you want to see the comparison of AP Ezreal vs. AD Ezreal in League, check out this YouTube video.
Read Also: The Best Ezreal Skin in LoL
AP Ezreal S13 Runes – Explained
The best runes for AP Ezreal:
- Electrocute
- Sudden Impact
- Eyeball Collection
- Ultimate Hunter
- Transcendence
- Gathering Storm
ELECTROCUTE is a natural fit for AP Ezreal. Basically, it deals additional adaptive damage after you strike an enemy with 3 consecutive attacks.
Both abilities and auto-attacks count here, so the basic combos of W+Q+AA or W+E+AA always proc Electrocute.
Electrocute stays relevant throughout the game, but its power is very high in the early and mid game. Because of this, make sure to take trades with your lane opponent with quick in-and-out combos.
SUDDEN IMPACT is a fantastic rune that gives you bonus magic penetration each time you jump with Ezreal’s E – Arcane Shift.
Since you’ll be using your E offensively to deal damage, Sudden Impact can give you so much value.
It only has 4 seconds of cooldown, so you’ll practically activate it on every E.
EYEBALL COLLECTION is a passive rune that increases your total AP upon champion takedowns. Each champion takedown grants a bonus 2 ability power.
And when fully stacked, Eyeball Collection gives you 30 bonus ability power.
ULTIMATE HUNTER is an essential rune for AP Ezreal because Trueshot Barrage is a central ability in this playstyle.
Not only it’s the hardest-hitting cooldown, but it’s a global ultimate that allows you to snipe enemy champions on the other side of the map.
If you have Ezreal’s R available every 20 to 30 seconds, your damage output will be significantly higher. You can use it to one-shot opponents, especially if you apply W first.
TRANSCENDENCE is one of the best runes in League of Legends. It gives you 10 ability haste for free by level 8 for free.
But it also resets the 20% remaining cooldown of your basic abilities upon a champion takedown. This simply means more Astral Shifts, more Essence Flux, and way more damage overall.
GATHERING STORM is a late-game investment. This rune doesn’t give you anything at the start of the game but every 10 minutes it grants more and more ability power.
So, it’s a free way of increasing your power passively without having to do anything.
AP Ezreal S13 Items – Explained
The best item build for AP Ezreal:
- Ionian Boots of Lucidity
- Luden’s Tempest
- Lich Bane
- Horizon Focus
- Void Staff
- Rabadon’s Deathcap
IONIAN BOOTS OF LUCIDITY are the best boots you can build on Ezreal, regardless if you’re going AP or AD. You want to have them as soon as possible because they give 20 ability haste.
AP Ezreal has long cooldowns and you desperately need cooldown reduction to start being effective.
LUDEN’S TEMPEST is the mythic item of choice for AP Ezreal. It increases his maximum mana, mana regeneration, ability power, and it even gives him ability haste.
And for every legendary item bought, Luden’s Tempest grants a bit of magic penetration.
The passive of Luden’s Tempest also fits AP Ezreal well because it improves his burst damage. It helps with wave clearing too, the area where AP Ezreal is the weakest.
LICH BANE is a no-brainer when you build Ezreal AP. It’s an item that gives you a ton of direct on-hit magic damage. It empowers your basic attack after using an ability, so that’s pretty much always on Ezreal.
The best thing about Lich Bane is that Ezreal can use it together with his E and Q. Astral Shift fires an auto-attack automatically and Mystic Shot counts as an auto-attack too.
So, Lich Bane is essential!
HORIZON FOCUS is a cool item that increases your long-range damage. It builds with Hextech Alternator which does tons of additional damage when you initially hit an enemy.
Sometimes it will only be enough to have Hextech Alternator to one-shot an enemy with your R.
VOID STAFF is the best magic penetration item in League of Legends. It will significantly increase your damage to all targets in the game, especially squishy champions.
Void Staff is an item that counters tanks and everything else in LoL.
RABADON’S DEATHCAP is the highest power spike you can have on AP Ezreal. Since Ezreal’s AP ratios are so high, Rabadon’s Deathcap offers much value here.
I’d advise you to get RA as soon as possible, but purchasing it in the late game isn’t bad either.
Read Also: AP Tristana Build Guide
Optional and Situational Items for AP Ezreal
As far as the situational items are concerned, there are my thoughts on them.
Night Harvester is a great mythic to have because it offers higher burst damage than Luden’s Tempest. It lacks mana and mana regeneration, so make sure you combine it with Tear of the Goddess.
Crown of the Shattered Queen is another viable mythic item for Ezreal. You’ll definitely want to purchase it against multiple assassins or enemies that are likely to target you.
Other than that, Zhonya’s Hourglass and Banshee’s Veil are the items I often the items go for here. And I purchase Morellonomicon when I need to counter champions like Soraka.
Read Also: AP Miss Fortune Build Guide
Ability Order and Summoner’s Spells
If you aren’t sure what ability to max first or which Summoner’s Spells to take, here are my tips.
AP Ezreal skill order:
- W > E > Q > R
The best Summoner’s Spells for AP Ezreal:
- Flash + Ignite
- Flash + Teleport
- Flash + Exhaust
Conclusion
Ezreal isn’t the only hybrid champion in LoL. In fact, there are dozens of other picks that can build either full AP or full AD. Take Akali or Jax, for example.
Like Ezreal, they can make it work with both builds, but their playstyle will change.
I hope this AP Ezreal guide helped you out. And if you enjoyed it, make sure to browse Runetarium for more similar builds such as the full AP Varus build!
Good luck!
